Don Collier

Outlaws
All in a Day's Work

Hatter Keenan: Alan Hewitt
Wim Squires:  Gene Lyons
Eddie: H.M. Wynant
Neely: Edgar Buchanan
Written by Andy Lewis
Directed by Andrew McCullough

 

Favorite line: "Mr. Neely, there are four thousand people in this area.
If I knew what went on in all their souls I wouldn't be Marshal - I'd be God."

It's a usual day in the Marshal's office. Mrs. Arbush wants a search made for her runaway cat. An upset man named Neely has been looking for the Marshal. Frank Andros says three of his cattle have been stolen. A political discussion resulted in a broken nose. And Will receives a letter from the governor informing him that Hatter Keenan is being released from Levenworth after serving his eight year term. Will is the man who put Keenan behind bars.  During his prison term, Keenan has let everyone know that his purpose in life is to hunt Will down and kill him. Deputy Chalk wants Will to stay out of sight for a while but Will won't listen. There is work to be done. And he won't let the townspeople seeing the law looking scared.

A frightened man rushes into the Marshal's office, exclaiming that Keenan is really after him. Wim Squires was a friend of Keenan's who escaped a prison term by giving evidence against him. Squires decides to hide out at his farm, but he makes the Marshal promise to come and check up on him.

A stranger comes into Connie's Cafe for a cup of coffee. He wants to know who eats at the Cafe - maybe the Marshal? Connie answers, "sometimes," addressing him as Mr. Keenan. He doesn't react, but she isn't fooled, and the minute he leaves, she rushes to the Marshal's office. But the stranger is watching.

Mr. Neely accosts Will in the street - his young daughter has run away in the night with a boy. What is the Marshal going to do about it? Will tells him he help the man find her.

Connie gives the description of her customer to Chalk but he tells her it doesn't fit Keenan. Then Chalk surmises that Keenan wouldn't want to go to prison again - he would no doubt hire a gunman to kill the Marshal for him. Connie begs Chalk to trail after Will and watch out for him. This is exactly Chalk's plan.

As Will and Neely walk the streets, the stranger follows behind. But Chalk is behind him and, gun drawn, tells him not to move anything but his mouth. He denies that Keenan sent him. When Will reads his papers, he discovers the man is a special deputy from Guthrie, sent by the governor to help keep Will alive. His name is Eddie Mann. Will agrees to let him stay undercover and sends an unhappy Chalk back to the office. Connie and Slim convince him to check up on Eddie's story.

Will finds the runaway Neely girl and her beau. He makes a show of filling out papers for Mr. Neely to press charges. He explains that it will then be a matter of public record  and will probably even appear in the newspaper. Mr. Neely doesn't want that. So Will tells them all to sit down and work it out while he goes back to work.

He keeps his word by riding out to Winn Squire's farm. Squire's is practically hysterical with fear - every noise, from the trees rustling to the horses stamping in the barn, makes him think Keenan is about to do him in.

Back in the office, Will paces like a caged tiger. He hates this waiting for someone to come after him. But it has to be business as usual so he sends Chalk out, though the Deputy protests. The Neelys return - Mr. Neely is going to allow his daughter's beau to court her, and they promise not to run off again.

Then the town undertaker comes in. Like everyone else, he has heard about the Marshal's pursuer, and wants the Marshal to know that he will "well taken care of."  He even takes Will's measurements - if it's one thing he can't abide, its a cadaver that rattles in the coffin. Will blows up at the man's eagerness, but then apologizes.

Slim has the reply to Chalk's wire regarding Eddie - there is no special deputy Mann attached to the Guthrie office. Meanwhile, Eddie approaches Will while he is corralling Mrs. Arbush's missing cat. Since Will is going back to check on Wim Squires again, Eddie tells him the best route to take so he can cover him. Will takes off but before Eddie can follow, Chalk knocks him unconscious.

When Eddie comes to, he wants to go after Will but Chalk confronts him with the wire. Mann tells him he is a fool - he's not a deputy, he's an assistant Marshal, his name is spelled Mahan, and he's attached to Oklahoma City, not Guthrie. "You sent a telegram to a clerk and you got a clerk's answer back."

At Squire's place, Will is commiserating over the man's fear - he's been hearing noises himself. But he won't stay to protect him - he needs a night's sleep. "But I've got special reasons," says Squires, just before he pulls Will's gun from its holster. "You've got to wait for me," purrs another man, pointing a rifle. It is Keenan, and he and Squires planned Will's capture together. Keenan has everything worked out - an alibi, a shoulder wound for Squires, who will say they were both bushwacked. When Keenan is distracted by a howling cat from outside, Will dives through the window. He is shot in the leg but pulls himself into the barn. Keenan and Squires stalk him. Will gets Keenan's rifle and shoots him but Squires runs away. Just then Chalk and Slim ride up. Squire fires at them but Chalk wounds him in the arm.

Slim asks Will how he managed to get away. Will shows him Mrs. Arbush's tom cat, safely stored in Will's saddle bag. When Slim tells him he should take a rest the next day, Will says there is too much work to do - among other things, there's Mr. Andros's missing cattle, the broken nose to investigate, and the tom cat to return to Mrs. Arbush.

 

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